BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

He never had any trouble expecting to prosper! He walked in wealth as easily as a bird flies or a fish swims because he understood that God was his Source. He knew God had promised to make him rich and he believed He could do it. That’s the perspective we ought to have as believers! God can make us rich just like He did Abraham. He isn’t limited in His ability to prosper us, except by our believing. But our believing is where the problem has been. We’ve limited our faith by our natural reasoning and by the financial lack we’ve experienced in the past. If, for example, we have always driven old, junky cars because that’s all we could afford, we might not even think of believing God for a new one. On the other hand, if we haven’t lacked for cars in the past, we might have high expectations in that area and yet still limit God in other ways. We might stumble over the idea that God could pay off our house, for instance. Or we might not be able to envision Him prospering us enough to finance a ministry. Whatever our experience might be, however, if we’ll get into the Word and get the Word into us, our faith level will rise. We’ll see things more like God sees them and be able to more freely receive the abundance He’s provided for us. So, let’s take some time right now to look at the Scriptures. Let’s take some of the limits off God by studying a little of what the Bible says about Abraham. Not Just Rich, but Very Rich His faith story as recorded in the Bible, begins when God visited Abram in Genesis 12. “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran” (verses 1-4). According to Vine’s Bible Dictionary, the word BLESS means “to cause to prosper, to make happy, and to bestow blessings upon.” Webster’s says it means “to make successful, to make prosperous in temporal concerns pertaining to this life, to keep guard and to preserve.” The "Amplified Bible, Classic Edition," describes a blessing as “an abundant increase of favors, and a dispensing of good.” When God said, “I will BLESS you,” He was saying a lot! He wasn’t just giving Abraham a little pat on the head or trying to make him feel good. He was empowering him to prosper supernaturally in every aspect of life. One of the first areas where that empowerment manifested was in Abraham’s finances. He became “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2). So did his nephew, Lot, who was traveling with him. THE BLESSING multiplied both of their households to the point where they had to split up. “The land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great…” (verse 6, "New King James Version"). Abraham didn’t want there to be any strife in the family, so he gave Lot first pick of the land. He put his confidence in THE BLESSING and said, “Lot, you choose where you want to live, and I’ll go someplace else.” Lot responded by selfishly taking the best part of the land for himself. (He apparently didn’t understand much about how THE BLESSING works.) He chose the fertile plain around the city of Sodom that “was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord.... He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram” (verses 10-11," New Living Translation"-96). It looked like Abraham got the worst end of the deal! But right after Lot departed, the Bible says the Lord spoke to Abram and gave him a different perspective. He said: “Look as far as you can see in every direction. I am going to give all this land to you and your offspring as a permanent possession. And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they cannot be counted! Take a walk in every direction and explore the new possessions I am giving you" (verses 14-17, "NLT"-96). In other words, the Lord turned that whole situation around! He took Abram from the one who was being taken advantage of…to being the one who came out on top. He made Abraham the biggest landowner around by giving him not only the fertile plain where Lot chose to live, but the entire land of Canaan. That’s the kind of thing THE BLESSING always does! It takes circumstances that appear to put you at a disadvantage and causes them to work to your advantage. It makes “all things work together” for your good (Romans 8:28) so that you not only wind up being BLESSED, you’re able to become a greater BLESSING to others. 28 : BVOV

• Cover